OECD Launches Your Better Life Index

24/05/2011 - The OECD today unveiled a new, interactive index that will let people measure and compare their lives in a way that goes beyond traditional GDP numbers.

Called Your Better Life Index (watch video), the tool is part of a larger OECD Better Life Initiative that aims to measure well-being and progress. The index allows citizens to compare lives across 34 countries, based on 11 dimensions -- housing, income, jobs, community, education, environment, governance, health, life satisfaction, safety, work-life balance -- giving their own weight to each of the dimensions.

“This index encapsulates the OECD at 50, pushing the boundaries of knowledge and understanding in a pioneering and innovative manner,” said OECD Secretary-General, Angel Gurría. “People around the world have wanted to go beyond GDP for some time. This index is designed for them. It has extraordinary potential to help us deliver better policies for better lives.”

The index is being launched as part of the OECD’s 50th Anniversary Forum and Ministerial celebrations in Paris, known as “OECD Week.”

Created in 1961 to succeed the Marshall Plan and promote economic cooperation and growth, the OECD has become the house of best practices in public policies.

The OECD’s 50th Anniversary Forum and Ministerial Council meetings, (24-26 May in Paris) bring together world leaders, policy makers and stakeholders from OECD countries and emerging economies to discuss issues such as: new sources of economic growth and jobs; gender equity; rising food and energy prices; and global development.